The present applicant has had occasion to preserve and present an item of memorabilia. Of particular interest to the present applicant are of items of sporting memorabilia although it is understood that memorabilia can take the form of artistic, historical, political or social items.
Given the developing commercial nature and appeal of memorabilia, particularly in sporting items, there is a real need for a means of both preserving and displaying such memorabilia.
Previously the present Applicants have filed an Australian Petty Patent application (Application No. 25287/00) which is directed to preserving an item of memorabilia by providing effectively a moulded shaped transparent layer, shaped to conform to an item of memorabilia, and a planar substrate.
It has been found by the applicants that their earlier attempts at manufacturing the apparatus according to petty patent No. 25287/00, too expensive. The Applicants have also experienced noticeable flaws/imperfections in the transparent layer which occurs during the moulding process. These flaws manifest in discrete points of opaqueness/cloudiness and are particularly noticeable in planar surfaces surrounding the shaped area. Even further disadvantages noticed by the Applicants in their earlier attempts to provide a suitable assembly for displaying memorabilia is that the transparent layer is easily scratched. This becomes a significant problem because the transparent layer constitutes the entire top surface of the assembly. During handling and transport of the earlier assembly, scratching or scoring of the transparent layer occurs, whether in shaped or non-shaped moulded regions, and detracts from the overall visual appearance and commercial appeal of the fully assembled article.
Therefore there is a need to provide an apparatus or assembly which is cheaper to produce, does not exhibit or is prone to imperfections, is more readily transported, while still retaining the feature of preserving and displaying an item of memorabilia in three dimensions.